Adoption Profile Photobook

Adoption Profile Photobook - Page Text Content

S: Josh & Susan

BC: A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark. - Chinese Proverb

FC: JOSH & SUSAN

1: To Someone Special | Thank you for viewing our profile. We are grateful you are taking the time to consider us as the potential family for your child. We admire your selflessness as you make an adoption plan and hope that this gives you a sense of the family, the life and the love we can provide for your child. We are over-joyed at the prospect of completing our family through adoption. | Our Best to You, Josh & Susan

2: We met in 1993 during our Sophomore year of college at the University of Illinois and dated for about five months before we went our separate ways. Our paths crossed again in late 1996 and we have been together ever since. We are truly an example of “if it’s meant to be, it will be.” We were married in October 1999. Our marriage is built on a foundation of love, mutual respect, friendship, commitment, support, cooperation and open communication. | About Us

3: We enjoy spending our free time together with our son, Reid. We love taking him to the aquarium, the zoo and the neighborhood parks. As a couple, we enjoy watching movies, trying new restaurants and planning family vacations. Josh loves playing golf and swimming and Susan likes to read and to shop. We are both first-born, type-A personalities. We counter-balance one another very well and don’t let each other get away with anything! We resolve problems by talking openly and honestly about how we feel and don’t go to bed angry. Our marriage is truly a partnership and we approach everything as a team. And, we laugh – a lot.

4: Susan - In Josh's Words Susan is my soul mate, my partner in life. She is beautiful, intelligent, funny, patient and tolerant, and the woman with whom I will spend the rest of my life. Susan’s partnership, and our marriage, has exceeded any expectations of what marriage could be. As a mother, Susan places our son’s needs above all others’. She is loving, nurturing, supportive and gentle, and at the same time firm and consistent.

7: Josh - In Susan's Words Josh is a generous, loving, considerate, hard-working, devoted husband and father. In Josh, I found a true partner. He makes me feel loved and safe and special. I know that there’s nothing life can throw at us that we can’t handle when we tackle it together. He is a problem-solver and excellent provider. There is no one else I would rather go through life with than him. As a father, Josh is attentive, affectionate, playful, concerned and involved.

8: Reid was born in December 2008. He is a happy, healthy & loving three-and-a-half year old. He is thoughtful, empathetic, observant & strong-willed. Reid has a fun sense of humor & is always making us laugh. He enjoys playing with trains, doing puzzles, playing games & reading books with us. Reid attends preschool three days a week & loves playing at the parks in our neighborhood. | Our Son, Reid

9: He really loves animals, especially our dog, Bentley. He is ready to be the wonderful big brother we know he will be. Because of our own relationships with our sisters & brothers & what it meant for us to grow up as the older brother & older sister in our families, we can’t wait for Reid to be blessed with a sibling. Having a brother or sister is a relationship unlike any other. It is a bond that you have forever & is one that we can’t wait for Reid to experience.

10: Our Decision to Adopt

11: While we knew we wanted to have a family of our own one day, we also felt it was important to spend some time just being a married couple for a while after our wedding. We enjoyed spending time together – traveling, trying new restaurants with friends, focused on our careers and bought our first home. We lived within a short drive of both of our families with whom we are very close and who we saw nearly every weekend. In early Spring of 2003, we decided we wanted to start our own family. After trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant for over a year, we sought help. After fertility treatments were unsuccessful we began to pursue adoption wholeheartedly. We knew we wanted to be parents in whatever way it was meant to be. We were ready to share all the things with which we were blessed with our children. Ultimately (and miraculously), we got pregnant with no intervention and our son, Reid, was born in December 2008. We have always known, however, that we would choose adoption to expand our family. We are ready to have another child and Reid is ready to be a big brother! We will all love and cherish an adopted child and sibling as a member of our family.

12: Our Priorities as Parents | Our lives revolve around our son and his welfare is our number one priority. We hold our roles as parents as the most important of our lives and realize that being a parent brings as many challenges as it does rewards. We believe children need unconditional love, nurturing, guidance, and a safe, secure environment and we work every day to provide these to our son. Being an effective parent means offering unconditional love and support while striving to see things through our child’s eyes and from their perspective. We believe discipline needs to be consistent and firm but fair. We teach our son rules and boundaries and that there are consequences for inappropriate behavior. We feel open communication, consistency, respect and unconditional love are important ingredients in creating a healthy bond between any parent and child regardless of birth status.

13: For us, the decision for Susan to leave her job and stay at home with Reid full-time was an easy one. Fortunately, we were financially able to give up her paycheck. We are thankful every day that Susan gets to be with Reid to watch him grow and develop and share special moments and milestones with him as they happen. She looks very forward to being a stay-at-home Mother to our next child, as well. We would welcome the opportunity to share with you pictures, letters and stories so you can share in these moments and milestones, too. We want our children to feel loved and supported as they find their way through life. Growing and developing means learning and we put a great deal of value on education, having both earned Master’s degrees. We want our children to work hard and always do their best. They won’t be good at everything but we expect them to try. We want them to be independent but to know family comes first. We hope they learn the importance of family, in part, by seeing what we have done to establish ours.

16: Our Home & Neighborhood | We love living so close to Manhattan. We can take advantage of everything the city has to offer while enjoying a family-friendly neighborhood away from the hustle and bustle. And, Reid loves to feed the geese along the Hudson River on the way to his favorite park.

17: While we have a car, we don't have to use it regularly since nearly everything is within walking distance. There is a pharmacy and grocery store directly across the street and there are four parks within a five minute walk. Our complex includes two pools, a fitness center and indoor and outdoor children's play areas. Schools and medical facilities are also within walking (or scooting) distance.